Sometimes God Uses Turmoil For Our Growth

by Kevin Burton

   My track coach Jim Rimmer was the first one I heard say “no pain, no gain.” I didn’t love hearing that then, but I knew he was right.

   I knew I would be running past my comfort zone, until my ribs began to hurt, then keep going. But I knew because of it I was more likely to succeed during a track meet.

   I love the phrase “no pain no gain” even less in a spiritual context. But without question there is a valuable if difficult lesson therein, as we are reminded in a message from Dr. Charles Stanley, founder of In Touch Ministries.

   Stanley’s text is John 12: 24-25, which in the NKJV reads, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

   “Most of us would rather live without pain. Yet God can—and does—a great work in our life during times of adversity,” Stanley wrote.

   “In today’s passage, Jesus explains the principle of brokenness through a metaphor comparing our life to a single grain of wheat. If we hold a kernel in our hands, nothing will happen. If we carefully place it in a jar or on a shelf for safekeeping, it will just sit there. Kept in safety, the grain will remain unchanged.”

   “However, if that kernel is placed in the soil where its protective layer is stripped away, something amazing happens,” Stanley wrote. “Before long, a sprout will emerge and start to grow into something different, useful, and beautiful.”

   “Moreover, that new stalk will produce more grains that can be planted, and the stalks those produce will go on to do the same. It’s an amazing cycle of life in which a single kernel can lead to countless stalks of wheat. But it has to start with the brokenness of one grain.”

   Brokenness isn’t something we tend to embrace. It doesn’t even sound right. Don’t we all go to great lengths to make sure our belongings aren’t broken? Don’t we move with great haste to repair them when they are broken?

   But the brokenness Jesus was speaking of is actually going from a state of dormant potential, through a painful process, into a state of fruitfulness, reflecting God’s plan for our lives.

   The people hearing Jesus’ parables knew all about agriculture. Unlike most of us today, they would have understood the message about how to grow crops from personal experience.

   But as Stanley points out Jesus was not just making speeches.

   “Jesus did not just speak this example; He lived it,” Stanley wrote. “After sacrificing Himself, He was broken and placed ‘in the ground.’ From that brokenness came new life for us all.

   “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53: 5).

   What exactly is going on down in the ground when one of my Kansas farmer neighbors plants corn, wheat and soybeans? Well I can’t tell you the science behind it. But whatever it is, it’s dirty, amen?

   Some of our days feel dirty, irritating. And maybe that’s because of our own folly. But sometimes it may be God, causing you and me to grow into fruitfulness for His kingdom.

   “Are you feeling broken today? If so, remember God has not abandoned you; instead, He may be leading you into a season of new growth and joy,” Stanley wrote.